Steering wheels used to steer vehicles such as automobiles including a main body attached to a steering shaft for converting rotational operation into steering operation and a pad disposed in a substantially central portion of the main body is known (for example, see Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication Nos. 2003-154943 and 2011-110941). In the steering wheel, the pad is attached to the main body such that the pad is movable in the axial direction of the steering shaft, and horn switches are configured between the main body and the pad.
A steering wheel shown in FIG. 3 of Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2003-154943 includes a main body (steering wheel main body), a pad (pad), fixed-side bases, moving-side bases, and horn switches. The pad is connected to the main body and has an airbag device, the fixed-side bases are connected to a metal core of the main body, the moving-side bases are formed on the pad side, and the horn switches are disposed between the fixed-side bases and the moving-side bases. Each horn switch includes fixed-side members, moving-side members, a spring as urging means, and a connection bolt. The fixed-side members include a fixed contact and are supported on the main body side. The moving-side members include a moving contact, which can operate a horn when contacting the fixed contact, and are disposed on the pad side above the fixed-side members. The spring is a coil spring that is disposed between the fixed-side members and the moving-side members and urges the moving contact upward so as to separate the moving contact from the fixed contact. The connection bolt connects the moving-side member side to the fixed-side member side so as to allow the moving-side members to move downward and define the offset distance between the fixed contact and the moving contact.
A steering wheel shown in FIG. 7 (D) of Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2011-110941 includes a first horn plate, a second horn plate, guide pins, stoppers, bushes (also referred to as insulators), elastic members, and coil springs. The first horn plate is secured to a main body, the second horn plate is secured to a pad, the guide pins arranged vertically on the second horn plate, the stoppers are formed at the tip ends of the guide pins, the bushes are inserted so as to be slidable along the guide pins, elastic members are engaged with the bushes and retain the first horn plate at outer peripheries thereof, and the guide pins are inserted into the coil springs such that the coil springs urge the bushes toward the stoppers.
The first horn plate corresponds to the fixed-side bases in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2003-154943, the second horn plate corresponds to the moving-side bases in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2003-154943, the guide pins and the stoppers correspond to the connection bolts in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2003-154943, and the bushes correspond to the fixed-side members in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2003-154943. In the following description, the bushes and the fixed-side members are generally referred to as insulators.